PREMIUM: the Workshop “Discover your competences” with Career Services

The first workshop I attended for PREMIUM, was a workshop provided by Career Services, named “Discover your competences”. This workshop exceeded every expectation I had. It was a great workshop to get to know yourself, with the help of others. The host of the workshop, working at Career Services, was committed and very helpful.

The workshop started with an exercise in which we had the chance to take a closer look at our own competencies. We were divided into small groups of 3 to 4 students and got to tell each other about a moment in our lives when we achieved something important. After we finished, the other students had to tell us, based on this story, what they thought our competencies were. It is very interesting to hear what people you don’t know see as your competencies based on this story and the way you present it. I was surprised by the fact that the description of the 3 other students was in line with the way I would describe myself. It was interesting and also satisfying to find this confirmation through others.

Another exercise within the workshop consisted of filling out the Core Quadrant, developed by the Dutch business expert Daniel Ofman. First of all, it was interesting to learn about the idea behind this Quadrant. I had never heard of it, and it made me realize there is value in working with people that have different or even opposing values. Moreover, talking to someone else, while filling out this Quadrant, can provide you with new insights about yourself and the other person. It is interesting to see what others value and what kind of people make up others’ “allergy” section (the “allergy” is part of the Core Quadrant, and consists of a person who is showing behaviour that opposes your core quality), and to understand why this is the case.

The most important and valuable lesson I learned from the first workshop is the fact that you get to know different parts of yourself, your competencies, your qualities, and your weaknesses, through interaction with other people. As novelist Paulo Coelho stated: “The best way to know who we are is often to find out how others see us”.

Written by Dani van der Kamp (FPN)

PREMIUM Student 2019-2020